How can a Sunset possibly inspire our Creativity and Productivity?

Everyone loves to watch the sun slowly dip below the horizon. Imagine the warmth you feel, the bright orange mixing with the deepening blue sky above. What could be more relaxing than that?

Who’s got time for that?

People on vacation, that’s who. After all, isn’t that why we take vacations? To get away, to relax, to recharge our batteries, to chill out, to GET SOME PERSPECTIVE?

Yep, that’s it.

This is now the third post I have written while I have been on vacation and I intend to go back and read this when I have been back at work for a while (and I hope you will too) in order to remind myself how important relaxing really is. This vacation has truly inspired me to think about how I feel about just that; relaxation and its impact on my ability to be creative and productive. Two things that are very important to me and to the work that I do.

Just relax.

We have all heard that bit of advice before.

Don’t forget to smell the roses! See the beauty in life! Try not to let it pass you by while you rush from one thing to another. I am so guilty of all of that rushing around and it takes a vacation for me to realize it. Every SINGLE time. Why do we forget all those reasons to slow down and take our time getting through life? Is it because if we don’t the next guy will beat us to the punch? Will he win the race?

Guess so.

That’s why I am writing this to us because I know that you are doing the same thing (if you’re not, you are an anomaly and should be studied closely) as I am. Busting your butt, chasing life and getting it done. Getting ahead. Moving on.

We can always go back to this in a few weeks, months, a year, whenever and remind myself to chill when we get caught up in the get-serious-boy-and-get-the-job-done reality of life we all live in.

What do you do to relax?

Do you take a walk?

Do you watch a sunset?

Do you take a nap?

Do you meditate?

Just sit with it a bit because it’s really important when it comes to being inspired, inspiring your creativity and actually getting things done. Why? Well, how often do you get frustrated that you are having a hard time finding the answer to a problem? How often do you know the killer solution is there somewhere and you settle for something that you know is maybe mediocre? How often is good enough going to have to do? I’ve been there often enough. You know, that’ll do. Let’s just move on already.

Sigh.

Why don’t we believe it when we hear those stories about the guy who has the million dollar idea in the shower? The epiphany.Maybe we should. He’s relaxed, not thinking about anything in particular and blammo! Dinner plans resolved. “I know exactly where to take my wife for her birthday!” he thinks. Grand idea but it’s not the million dollar seller by a stretch.

It doesn’t matter.

We all take vacations and we all need them for the major recharging of the batteries. That’s a given but if you’re stuck on something what’s wrong with allowing yourself to take a break, whatever that might be, in your regular workday or workweek in order to actually recharge your mind. Empty out the issues.

Get some perspective.

We can all train ourselves to do that, can’t we?

Hey, if you work in a corporate office environment like me or you if are self-employed, whatever your position, why not get up and walk around for a few minutes, maybe visit a colleague (just make sure they are not in the middle something and focussing on a task) and chat, get a coffee or just look out the window? You might see something interesting. You never know. Yep, it’s going to look unproductive to the untrained eye but to you and me, we know its ideas and inspiration central.

So, what happens?

You might just relax; your mind might relax along with you and then after you have both had time to chill you can go back to work. You have certainly heard the phrase “The answers come when you stop looking for them.” just like you’ve heard “You fall in love when you stop thinking about meeting someone.”

Armchair philosophy, I know.

Does it always work like that? Probably not but it is certainly worth a try.

I have been working on some new ideas to enhance theviewfromhere (coming soon to a PC or smartphone near you) and I have been thinking about it for some time now but just haven’t been able to nail it. Now that I have had some time off, I have to admit, I have been able to come up with the right solutions or at least the solutions that feel right. The time to recharge has helped immensely so I think it’s worth a try when I am not vacationing.

Want to join me in my quest?

How about we start to take 5-10-15 minute (however long you think you need) mini vacations when we get stuck on a problem or at least try to make it part of our routines?

Let’s walk part of the way to work. Let’s go out of the office at lunch and wander around for a few minutes. Let’s stop and flip through a magazine we love, read a blog that’s inspiring (hopefully this one), visit a website we love or really anything to take you out of the routine and the problem you are struggling with.

Refresh our minds and then get back to it.

Hey, we all live long lives and we have a long way to go in our careers so if it’s a more enjoyable journey and we are able to be more productive at the end of the day how can we lose using 15 minutes to inspire us to find a better solution?